Jason may be looking to fleece roommate unless tenancy status can be resolved
Q: I am having a dispute with my roommate, Jason. We were friends in high school and moved into an apartment together to attend uOttawa. Now, after two weeks, we can’t live with each other. Our schedules completely conflict, and I am tidy but Jason is a slob. He thinks I’m being annoying by bugging him to wash his dishes and tidy up, and wants to leave. I am conflicted because I want someone more compatible, but I signed a 12-month lease with our landlord. Jason says he didn’t sign the agreement, and so he does not have to stay for the length of the lease. Is he right? Can he leave me stuck with paying the whole rent?
A: The practical solution is for you and Jason to find a person to take over the tenancy with one of you, and the other moves. Once you find a person, here are the steps you may need to take.
Even though Jason did not sign the lease, he may still be considered a tenant: for example, perhaps both of you met the landlord and applied to rent, and then for some practical reason he happened not to sign the lease. If Jason is paying part of the rent to the landlord directly, that suggests he is a tenant. If Jason is a tenant, then you and he would need to ask the landlord to allow you to assign the tenancy to you and the new person. Provided the new person has acceptable references, the landlord should allow that.
Jason may instead be a subtenant of yours if you are the only one who made the agreement with the landlord, if your landlord deals only with you and if you pay the landlord the whole rent and collect Jason’s share from him. The newly adopted Ontario standard residential lease calls for all tenants to sign. Therefore, if that form of lease was used, that further suggests that Jason is not a tenant. In that case, replacing him is even easier, since you do not need to process it through the landlord.
However, if Jason is to stay while you leave, then you certainly need to arrange with the landlord to assign the tenancy to Jason, or to Jason and the new person.
In any case you should inform the landlord, and if necessary assign the lease to whoever will stay (and the new roommate).
Even if Jason is not a tenant of the landlord, he may be responsible to you to share the rent, so he cannot legally walk away from that. That depends on the agreement or implied agreement between the two of you. If you came to a common understanding, then that would apply to the situation.
However, often people do not discuss in advance what is to happen if and when they want to part ways. Then, if there is a dispute, a court (like Small Claims Court) will apply reasonable terms. The court takes into account what was actually said between the people, as well as their circumstances, to decide what most people would have agreed if they had talked the issues through to an agreement.
ONTARIO RENT GUIDELINE FOR 2019
The guideline for residential rent increases taking effect between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019 is 1.8%. Ninety days written notice using the approved form is required.